Hull City Council (HCC) is rolling out Aico’s Ei1000G gateway across its portfolio of 24,000 properties to improve compliance while creating safer homes for residents.
As a landlord, gaining access to properties once they have been let is a challenge. Gas teams experience the best access rates due to the testing being enforceable, while electrical inspection and condition reports (EICRs) typically struggle to gain access.
Long-term compliance
Like many housing providers, HCC found it difficult to ensure their properties’ fire detection systems were compliant for the duration of a tenancy. HCC operatives would regularly attend properties and note that key components of the fire detection system were missing. This caused concerns for HCC because it was investing in its properties and upgrading them to the latest standards (BS5839-6) only to have key elements go missing. Not knowing when the items were removed meant that the resident could potentially have been living in a non-compliant property for nearly a year before anything was noted as missing.
HCC wanted to ensure the integrity of its housing stock was not weakened by interference with alarms and to be notified of any potential problems within its properties. After consulting with its local Aico regional specification manager (RSM) Gareth Iveson, HCC opted to use Aico’s Ei1000G gateway across its full housing portfolio; the gateways were then rolled out during property upgrades and void periods.
Seamless reporting & insights
The gateway enables HCC to extract data from its fire and carbon monoxide alarms, which is sent seamlessly to the HomeLink portal. The portal has various reporting tools which provide insights into the performance of the fire and carbon monoxide alarm system. With easy access to this information, forecasting alarm replacement and maintenance is easier than ever, with handy reporting tools to help HCC stay compliant with the latest legislation. The remote property management solution also includes custom notifications and tags so that the right departments and individuals get notified at the right time, increasing accuracy and providing faster responses.
Michael Illingworth, programme manager, Hull City Council, said, “Working with Aico has allowed us to monitor and maintain our compliance against the standards set for BS5839-6. The Aico gateways also let us choose where alerts from properties go so we can send alerts to housing officers who can then contact residents to check if there are any problems.”
Training for best practice
During the installation of the gateways, HCC received training from their local Aico RSM on the best way to use the HomeLink portal and how to get the best RoI from the product. The training covered: prioritising alerts; investigating problems; running reports; monitoring alarms’ expiry dates; planning future capital replacement programmes; and setting up custom notifications and alerts.
HCC had already committed to a programme of smoke alarm upgrades, taking it from an LD3 system (covering circulation spaces and escape routes only) up to the latest standard of LD2 (covering circulation space and escape routes and high-risk areas such as kitchens and living rooms – the recommended minimum for BS5839-6).
HCC already has over 3,000 Aico gateways connected to its dashboard, meaning that around 12 per cent of its stock is now fully compliant with LD2 and is being monitored remotely to ensure residents’ safety.
Gareth Iveson, regional specification manager, Aico, said, “Working with HCC on this project has been great. Having been involved from the initial development and seeing it through to the stage now where approximately 15 per cent of HCC’s housing stock is now being monitored is a great achievement.”
Expansion of environmental sensors
HCC is now looking at the possibility of expanding this further with the specification of HomeLink environmental sensors. These would link to HCC’s existing gateways and allow HCC to proactively monitor the environmental conditions within its properties, identify problems and provide insights into risks such as damp and mould, fuel poverty and indoor air quality.
To find out more about how the Aico gateway is designed to create healthier, safer homes, please visit aico.co.uk/homelink/fire-co.
